Nestle Cookie Dough Sickens Dozens

GLENDALE, Calif. — Nestlé USA, headquartered here, recalled all its refrigerated Toll House cookie dough products, or about 300,000 cases, on Friday, within 24 hours of being notified by the Food and Drug Administration that the product may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7, said Laurie MacDonald, a vice president at Nestlé USA, in a published report.

At least 66 people in 29 states reportedly became ill after eating raw Nestlé refrigerated cookie dough. More than two-thirds of the 65 victims are younger than 19, according to the CDC. No deaths have been reported.

The company also suspended operations at the Danville, Va., plant that makes Nestlé's refrigerated cookie dough that day, according to a published report. About 500 people work at the plant, which is a major employer in the small community near the North Carolina border.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are still investigating the cause of the possible contamination. Both said that is unusual for cookie dough to be contaminated with the bacteria. In fact, this first known outbreak of E. coli contamination associated with raw cookie dough, said the CDC and FDA, in a published report.

Critics of federal food safety efforts jumped on this latest outbreak as an example of lax regulations. They said it was more evidence of why Congress should quickly adopt the Food Safety Enhancement Act.

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